"Minerva, go call Moody to join us," Dumbledore said as he turned back toward Cornelius Fudge.
"All the clues point toward his return. The recent attack of the Death Eaters at the World Cup tournament, and now the killing of the boy Cedric and Harry Potter missing. My instinct says that Lord Voldemort is back," said Dumbledore as he stared directly at Fudge.
Dazed and blinking, Fudge stared back at Dumbledore as if he couldn't quite believe what he had just heard. He began to stutter, still goggling at Dumbledore.
"You-Know-Who ... returned? Preposterous. Come now, Dumbledore ... See here," said Fudge, a slight smile appearing on his face, "you ... you can't seriously believe that. You-Know-Who.... back? Come now, come now... "
"Listen to me, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, taking a step toward Fudge. "The death of Barth Crouch Snr was not a coincidence. A member of the ministry was killed a little after the attack of the Death Eaters. Don't you see! Why, after so many years, are they now taking action? What has changed that gave the Death Eaters the courage to begin their atrocious actions again?"
"He can't be back, Dumbledore, he just can't be ..." Fudge was shaking his head.
"If your determination to shut your eyes will carry you as far as this, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, "we have reached a parting of the ways. You must act as you see fit. And I... I shall act as I see fit."
Dumbledore's voice carried no hint of a threat; it sounded like a mere statement, but Fudge stepped back as though Dumbledore were advancing upon him with a wand.
"Now, see here, Dumbledore," he said, waving a threatening finger. "I've given you free rein, always. I've had a lot of respect for you. I might not have agreed with some of your decisions, but I've kept quiet. There are not many who would have let you hire werewolves, keep Hagrid, or decide what to teach your students without reference to the Ministry. But if you're going to work against me..."
Snape moved forward, past Dumbledore, pulling up the left sleeve of his robes as he went. He stuck out his forearm and showed it to Fudge, who recoiled.
"There," said Snape harshly. "There. The Dark Mark. Every Death Eater had the sign burned into him by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing one another, and his means of summoning us to him. I felt the mark burn for a split second just minutes before Cedric's body appeared. I have felt something like this since the Dark Lord's disappearance. You should ask Karkaroff also. He must have also felt it."
"I see no evidence to the contrary!" shouted Fudge, now matching his tone, his face purpling. "It seems to me that you are all determined to start a panic that will destabilise everything we have worked for these last thirteen years!"
Dumbledore understood at that moment that whatever evidence they would bring in front of Cornelius Fudge, the latter would reject all of them. Only seeing Voldemort with his naked eyes could make the Minister change his view.
Just then, to break the ongoing tension, Professor McGonagall rushed inside panting.
"Dumbledore! I can't find Alastor Moody anywhere. His room is completely empty."
---
Unlike the tense atmosphere at Hogwarts, this location was calm except for a shadow approaching the only building in the surroundings, a decaying structure. As the person moved out from the shadow, the moonlight revealed his snake-like features clearly on his face.
He was the dark Lord Voldemort, and he had returned to the remains of the Gaunts' shack in Little Hangleton. This place played an important part in the early life of the dark lord.
This was the birthplace of the witch Merope Gaunt, the mother of Lord Voldemort, who died shortly after giving birth to the dark Lord.
At the time, when Voldemort visited the shack, Marvolo Gaunt, Lord Voldemort's grandfather, was already dead, and only Morfin Gaunt, his uncle, was present. From him did Lord Voldemort know the real identity of his father, Tom Riddle Snr. Tom, aka Voldemort, felt enraged upon knowing his father was a Muggle and that he abandoned his mother just after his birth.
Seeking revenge, the dark Lord murdered his father, grandfather, and grandmother and put the blame on Morfin Gaunt. He did so by using Morfin's wand and placing a false memory inside the latter's head. At that particular time, the dark Lord took the ring that Morfin was wearing and later openly wore it during his time at Hogwarts. After confirming the theory of Horcrux, Voldemort turned the ring into one and hid it here in the shack.
If Voldemort did not have these new memories, he would have left the ring intact, and later Albus Dumbledore would have found it, leading to its destruction. But this time, Voldemort was not going to let this happen.
As Voldemort pushed the wooden door, it creaked open, revealing the forgotten secrets within. Dust and cobwebs filled the interior, like memories frozen in time.
Previously, Lord Voldemort had placed many protective enchantments to deter outsiders from entering the shack, but as the caster of such a curse, he was not affected by it. With a move from his hand, the rotting floorboards beneath the shack rise up, revealing a golden box hidden there.
Lord Voldemort performed the wand-less "ACCIO" spell, and the box flew into the air and rose toward his hand.
Opening the box, a golden ring was revealed. It was the Marvolo Gaunt's Ring, one of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes.
It was a gold ring inset with a black stone, engraved with what Marvolo Gaunt called the Peverell coat of arms. Without the new memories, the engravement meant nothing but now, Lord Voldemort recognized the stone was actually the legendary artifact known as the Resurrection Stone, and the "coat of arms" design on the stone was the symbol of the Deathly Hallows.
Even though Lord Voldemort had placed a powerful curse on the ring, one that would quickly lead to the death of the ring's wearer if not stemmed, Lord Voldemort took the ring from the box and inserted it on his finger.
After all, the dark Lord was intelligent enough to not be affected by his own curse.
"Now it is time to wake the boy who lives," said Lord Voldemort before vanishing from the shed.